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DLChris71

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Posts posted by DLChris71

  1. I was able to get a myscout account without registering...I think by registering as a scoutparent I believe and was given access to most training. Which I started taking out of interest in the program and boredom one night. Then the next thing I know I'm out shopping for a tan shirt and green pants.

  2. I was able to get a myscout account without registering...I think by registering as a scoutparent I believe and was given access to most training. Which I started taking out of interest in the program and boredom one night. Then the next thing I know I'm out shopping for a tan shirt and green pants.

  3. Own- Well...I set the limit for HA because it's the Camping&High Adventure section of the forum. The AT goes very close to Gettysburg though :) And I also would like to go to Valley Forge one day.

     

    sailing - I'll check out Morning Light. Do Sea Scouts participate in many races?

  4. Imagine if you were a scout (or you are a scout), or hey even a scouter who caught wind of a trip the PLC was throwing to the coolest destination you could imagine. Where would that be? To make it a fair though, it can't be a place you've already been to already, and it has to be a high adventure type destination...the KOA at the Daytona 500 is out :)

     

     

    My own would be 3-4 days at Grand Teton National Park. There has just always been something about the pictures of the mountains spiking up over the lakes there that have just drawn me.

  5. One thing I would bring up is if each scout has their own plan for advancement, who is following up with them and mentoring them? Does if fall on the PL and APL to juggle the duty roster and Patrol Meeting schedule to meet these individual plans?

     

    This is one of the things that I do like about the FCFY plans is that it can help chart what areas do need to be covered so each scout can be rotated through. To me it's the playbook while not being too rigid.

  6. To me it comes down to whether the Pack and future troop have the same numbers. If they do then go with green and tan, if not then you'd have to replace the numbers anyway. I'd personally go with red and white though to maintain solidarity with the current pack, for $5 or so, and sewing it doesn't seem like you are saving a lot by going ahead with green/tan.

  7. In our pack my oldest was first assigned to a den with his class mates from school, but at the last second was switched to another den with kids from mostly another school in our area. So the thing is this. My son wanted to pursue things like the CS World Conservation Badge, Leave No Trace, Emergency Preparedness, Cub Scout Outdoor Activity, etc. But his den leader, who is a great lady, really only has time for the basic program. So no den projects. Hopefully they will be doing Whittlin Chip the next few weeks. But for him it's been slightly frustrating.

     

    Now he can earn Emergency Preparedness, LNT, and Outdoor Activity through his family but I think it's something he'd like to have earned with his den.

  8. Et al- my personal experience was always Boy Scouts, I was never a cub scout and so I perfectly understand the difference between cub scout, webelos, and boy scout advancement. I understand that my son will be getting tested and checked by someone who is not me, and I insist on it. In fact I have told both of my sons that they need to understand that principle.

     

    Fish- yes, if someone is struggling with the combined FCFY schedule then yes they will likely benefit from gearing down and focusing on individual requirements.

     

    I assume the biggest problem would be in first aid, swimming, knot tying, and actual outing time?

  9. As a parent I would hope that the troop/patrol schedule would allow a person to advance through to First Class in one year. I'd hope that because if a scout, my son in particular, can demonstrate mastery in the skill in one year then they can continue on to other things in scouting. Whether my own son can do that in a year or not I'm not sure. But the key I think is multiple opportunity, that is a lot of opportunity to camp, hike, explore, and be challenged. I think it is also worthwhile for the troop to do this also since it gives everyone a chance to lead and excel or fail and learn.

     

    But then it's called boy scouts and not "exceptionally mature for their age" scouts. I hear a lot about the fact that we need to keep things fun. Unfortunately for adults we have to have this ability to have fun while working and be able to pass that on to our kids.

     

    When I take my sons hiking I like to put it this way. Every hiking trip can be a slog in a bog or a struggle up a hill, but every hike should have a mountain top moment (or hour) that makes the trip worth the going. We hardly ever remember the blisters but we do remember standing on a peak looking down on the clouds.

     

    So program for FC1Y but expect everyone to go at a different pace, learn at a different pace. Everyone will get there eventually and breath easy, it's not cub scouting after all :)

  10. Wow...that sounds like a 1980's MB clinic...that is disappointing. I wouldn't think something so ad hoc would go on these days, or hoped it wouldn't. I thought most MB clinics were supposed to be very narrow in focus. Here in my city there is one put on by the fire department once per year that focuses only on first aid and fire safety (http://www.wect.com/story/17022200/boy-scouts-earn-merit-badges-in-first-aid-and-fire-safety). And most of the other opportunities in our council also seem fairly narrow and focused.

  11. Something that as a new Den Leader and a former scout that has always bothered me is that most of the time it seems the kids get grouped together by some arbitrary category, and merged in with a leader (den leader or PL or Patrol) that they may not exactly jibe with. You know such as age, neighborhood, school. It's not until a certain point in some boy scout troops that you even branch off into something like a venture patrol. But is that enough variety.

     

    In my pack for example we have den leaders that are just there for den meeting night. Sure they put effort into the den meeting (mileage may vary) but if it's outside of the realm of the den meeting resource book then it won't happen. Then there are other den leaders that are interested in pursuing a certain award or awards. Some DLs don't care about uniforms, others want the scouts in uniform socks to cap. Yet dens are arranged (besides the important grade/age factor) by school assignment in our pack.

     

    In a patrol scouts are arbitrarily assigned to a patrol by SPL/PLC (or possibly a rascally SM) initially. The issue I have there is that it takes an individual kid a lot of gumption to break ranks and request a new patrol.

     

    What if there was some way, maybe at the first meeting of the scout year (for cub scouts after fall roundup I guess or before/after troop elections for a PL) that the leader of each den or the PL of a patrol were able to come out and state what kind of group they wanted to lead.

     

    Not some baloney shooting session but set out goals and standards they wanted to achieve for their group of scouts.

     

    Say one DL wanted to pursue mainly service projects on weekends in addition to ranking or another just wanted to do den meetings and pack activities.

     

    Or a PL that wanted his patrol to spend the next 6 months pursuing the Hornaday awards vs. a PL that wanted to organize a HA trip for the troop.

     

    Then the scouts (and parents in the case of Cubs) would have some choice in which group they wanted to get into.

     

    The purpose then is to instead of arbitrarily assigning scouts to some group would be to get them invested and excited as much as possible to start out with, instead of the group trying to over come the inertia of trying to form a new group or progressing with new scouts and trying to get the cat to bark.

  12. Let's say a Webelos Den in Wilmington, NC is going to Croatan National Forest, which is another Council. To get there each Webelos parent will be taking them by POV. I've always wondered if a tour plan has to include all the parents vehicle info, etc. or is there some way to do the tour plan without transport and just starting with everyone on site?

  13. My worst night on an outing was not in a tent, but in a VW microbus. My mom and her friends left East Carolina University in Greenville, NC to go visit Okracoke Island. To get their they were going to take the Cedar Island Ferry. This was late spring and I was 4 years old. They got their after the last ferry and they decided to spend the night in the parking lot waiting in line. Well the parking lot was lit by big flood lights and they attracted hordes of mosquitos. So many that it looked like a buzzing fog. Well then someone got out to use the bathroom and the little van was invaded. So now it's low 80's, humid with the windows closed hiding under a blanket trying to avoid buzzing bites. I was so glad when the sun came up and we got on the ferry. That was a long time ago but I remember it well.

  14. I think that being skeptical can have its place as does innocent trust. The use of the funds aside then, I think it would be encouraging if more West award winners would wear their knots. I can't say that I've seen one on a uniform. I'd like to "pay" for the West knot one day for myself and my sons. It really would be a stretch as that amount of money could pay for a lot of other good things for our family. On the other hand it would benefit the entire community.

     

    I don't know exactly how BSA or my council uses FOS or West funds, but then I don't know exactly how my church uses my tithes. But I think that it helps scouting to wear the knot.

     

    For example, would you be more or less likely to give a large donation to a camp project if the scouters doing the presentation had West knots on? I know that the people talking to me at church about tithing have 'skin' in the game.

     

    I know that some people have an aversion to accolades and the subdued bling of adult scouters. But just as some people have such an aversion other people have a need for symbolism.

  15. In our council everything goes through the online training in regard to YPT. So the biggest hold up is that you take YPT, fill out your app, then have to wait for Council to give the CC a membership number to apply to your myscout.org training. For me it took about 2-3 weeks over the holidays.

     

    I have some organizational issues myself and invested in a den box, a heavy duty plastic tool box that can fit awards, clip boards, manuals, supplies, forms, etc. Unfortunately I still struggle with the "everything on the clipboard" filing system. My wife is much better and invests a lot in those large envelopes. I think I'll be going with a small expanding file or something.

  16. Our pack uses Packmaster, not sure about the full functionality as I only have den leader access, but it seems stable and gets the job done and we can access it through the internet. I'd like to hear about other software's though also.

  17. So at RT, in fact both I have attended, I believe Scoutfish was wearing the Cub Scout Leader neckerchief and given the conversation decided to go check out the local scout store today and found they had them in stock. Was very happy to see that they were full sized neckerchiefs suitable for all purposes so went ahead and bought one...pretty inexpensive. So I guess I'm just lacking an "official hat" though I'm known to wear a felt Expedition Hat similar to the one available through scoutstuff.org. Though mine came from a Truck Stop and is pretty worn down.

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